Crossing

Artist Spike Mafford

MediumUltrachrome Ink Jet print (Edition 2/5)

Dimensionsframed: 19 1/4 x 27 1/4 x 1 1/4 in. (48.9 x 69.2 x 3.2 cm)

ClassificationsPhotograph

Credit LineSeattle Public Utilities 1% for Art Portable Works Collection

When I'm shooting I find that composition is as important to me as subject; an abstract sense of vision is essential. By concentrating on form and composition I can create an image which is both abstract visually and literal photographically. One seeks, unreasonably, to make the photo mean more than the subject alone. This image is part of the Skyscape (Braille) series. The negative space in the photograph is filled with prose, abstract and descriptive, translated into Braille and laid on the surface. Inclusion of the Braille text allows a blind person to read an impression of the image, while adding a visual hieroglyphic for the sited.

I was struck by the idea that any image created is an expression of an impression, and while photography is slightly more literal than words at description, there is no getting around the fact that I have translated the moment for my viewers with my camera. I asked some friends and family to give me their poetic impressions, which I had translated into Braille, adding another layer of impression. I'd like to hear what kind of picture a blind person would conjure up out of that description.

Art, especially photography, is often considered too precious to touch. Here, I am asking you to touch. I want the sighted viewer to brush up against the inevitable mystery of expression and the blind viewer to read the photo, to reach across the boundary.

I like the idea of people reaching out to touch the image, like tracing fingers on the framed window I have offered with the photo. In a sense, I am reaching out to touch the viewer, and I like the idea of that reach returning. –Artist statement